Dear Mr. President,

According to data from cdc.gov/teenpregnancy, teen pregnancies, rape, and birth defects are rising. With these rises, abortion is believed to be acceptable. However, I believe that abortion is only acceptable in certain circumstances. According to the landmark decision in Roe v. Wade, current abortion laws state that abortion is legal, but may be restricted by the states to varying degrees. However, not everyone agrees with this decision.

Did you know that 3 in 10 American girls will get pregnant at least once before age 20? There are nearly 250,000 teen pregnancies every year. Abortions in this scenario are due to unwanted pregnancies. 1 in 6 women have experienced an attempted or completed rape which is also an example of why women get abortions, based off of data from dosomething.org. Additional causes of abortion include birth control failure, incest, possible physical or mental conditions that endanger the women’s health if the pregnancy were to continue, the prevention of the birth of a child with birth defects, and the chance of the baby most likely becoming a foster child.

Whether or not you support abortion or are against it, there will always be a different perspective of the issue. An unknown person supports all reasons for abortion. They claim that abortion is acceptable in cases such as teen pregnancies. “Who’s going to support the cost for the care of that baby? Either the tax payers or the teens parents, which is a burden.” However, there are people who have similar thoughts as myself. According to an OB/GYN in “OB/GYN’s Thoughts on Abortion,” abortion should be legal but with restrictions. This author goes by the name of Lissa Rankin, and she delineates thoughts similar to my own. In the article, Lissa claims that all pregnant women should keep their babies. But over time, she learned that that wasn’t always in everyone’s best interest. Lissa states, “What about the woman who conceived as the result of rape and incest? … What about the crack-abusing mother whose child would surely end up in foster care with a crack-baby brain?” These are only two of many examples that show that no matter what, there will always be an opposing side to your thoughts.

The real question is who is affected by this issue and how can we prevent it from happening? The mother is affected because they have to make the decision on whether or not to keep the child. The poor child is also affected because it is their life in their mother’s hands. If a mother chooses to go through with the abortion, that child’s life is being taken from them, and they can’t do anything about it. Therefore, abortion should be legal if the woman was raped. It isn’t fair to the child if the mother only wants an abortion because she didn’t want the child. The mother can prevent the abortion by having the child, and then putting it up for adoption so the child has a chance to live their life.

So it’s up to you, Mr. President, will you help save the lives of the future children, giving them a chance to have a life of her own? Or will you continue to allow mothers to neglect their children due to their own mistakes? What would you do if your 15 year old daughter was pregnant? Would you make the decision in allowing her to get an abortion, depriving the innocent child of life, or would you let the birth of that child happen, giving them a chance at life? Imagine what this child could be in the future, who they would be to somebody. Imagine this innocent infant running around the house enjoying life. I’m asking you, Mr. President, which you choose to nominate Supreme Court justices to align with the position that abortion should only be used in the case of rape, and to save the lives of innocent children.

Sincerely,

Samantha